Air strikes kill 42 in Syria

More than 42 people were killed and wounding more than a hundred in an air strike by unidentified warplanes on a village mosque in Aleppo province. The attack happened during evening prayers and most of the casualties were civilians. The village is held by rebel and Islamist groups, but no jihadist factions are present.

Abu Muhammed, a village resident, said that he saw 15 bodies and a lot of body parts in the debris when he arrived at the scene.

An AFP reporter at the scene said rescuers earlier left the wreckage site but were forced to double back when they heard moaning coming from the debris.

The skies over Aleppo are often busy with Syrian and Russian warplanes as well as US-led coalition aircraft carrying out air strikes. Russia has often denied allegations of civilian deaths in its strikes, whereas US-led coalition said earlier this month that at least 220 civilians had been unintentionally killed in its raids in Iraq and Syria.